In composing these weekly reflections, I make great efforts to not go back to the same wells too often. But, it wouldn’t be difficult to fill an entire book with lessons I learn observing our family’s Golden Doodle, Evie. As I consider the ways she interacts with my family, responds to various strangers and visitors, and approaches the world around her, I see small glimpses of what I think God must see and feel when He looks at us. Often, I will say something to Evie that will strike a chord in my soul. In those moments, I can hear the voice of the Lord in my head saying, “Amen. Go thou and do likewise…” I had yet another occurrence this morning.
It was a standard Monday morning. My wife and I were scrambling around the kitchen, attempting to get things together in order that we might get out the door and off to our respective work places on time. I was going through the process of making coffee; My wife was packing her lunch. While these two activities may seem static and stationary, they both actually involve quite a bit of motion around the kitchen. It is a somewhat frenetic dance that sends us both spinning and side-stepping our way around the island in the center of the space.
As we engaged in this daily ritual, I noticed that the floor was inordinately clear of one massive, 90 pound, attention hungry impediment. Evie was not “under-foot,” or “in-front-of-waist” as the case may be. I spun around to see where she might be. I found her sitting at attention, staring intently up at the treat jar. I called to her and she only briefly acknowledged me with a side-ways glance, and immediately snapped her head back to the object of her desire. She was clearly communicating to me, “Dad, I am hungry. Come over here and get me something to eat.” I looked over at her food bowl, and it was full. So, I told her, “Evie, you have plenty of food in your bowl. You don’t need a special treat; I’ve given you what you need.”
Does God perhaps point to His own Word, the Bible, and say, “You don’t need a special treat; I’ve given you what you need?”
It was at that moment that I had an epiphany. I often find myself praying that God would reveal Himself to me in tangible ways. I don’t exactly know what I’m hoping will happen or what I want God to do. But, there are times, when God feels distant. There are moments when I feel extremely empty, alone, and uncertain what to do (yes, even as a pastor). When those moments come, I find myself metaphorically, and often physically, staring upwards, begging for God to give me what I need. I wonder if God, in those moments, isn’t gently encouraging me to look around at the many ways He’s already revealed and proven Himself to me. Does God perhaps point to His own Word, the Bible, and say, “You don’t need a special treat; I’ve given you what you need?”
Don’t misunderstand me: I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking God to reveal Himself or seeking out deeper experiences and understandings of His power and presence in and for our lives. I do, however, think that we often default to asking for something special while neglecting the daily practice of engaging with the written record of God’s revelation found in His Word. When Jesus was dealing with temptation in the face of physical hunger in the loneliness of the wilderness, He responded to the temptation to seek something special by pointing to the foundational nature of God’s Word for our well-being. He said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
In our moments of spiritual hunger and emptiness, may we remember that God, in His goodness and grace, has given us all we need to know Him and to experience His power and presence every day of our lives.
Could it be that what we need from God is sitting on a shelf in our living-room or in the backseat of our car? Could it be that the encouragement we need is and has been within arm’s reach the whole time? It is amazing when God reveals Himself in big and unusual ways. But the exception is by definition the exception, not the rule. In our moments of spiritual hunger and emptiness, may we remember that God, in His goodness and grace, has given us all we need to know Him and to experience His power and presence every day of our lives.
